When an incredulous opponent asked David Dougherty if he was paying the umpire, the 56-year-old woodwork teacher was happy to respond, ''Well, actually, I am.''
In fact, these days, he helps pay all the bills.
For 29 years, Dougherty, who teaches woodwork at Kavanagh College, was just another punter paying match fees to play his beloved indoor cricket at the facility.
But when the business shut its doors last year, Dougherty decided to invest in it and roped in his wife, daughter and daughter's partner to help fund the venture in Crawford St.
He considers it part retirement plan and part insurance - insurance in the sense he was not ready to hang up his boots, and this way, he gets to keep playing.
The family have gone back to the original name of Metro Indoor Sports and hope it will prove a sound investment.
''When we took over we had 40 teams, but within three to four months we had built it up to 120 teams across the different sports,'' Dougherty said.
''It needs to be built up. We've got competition with the Edgar Centre - with indoor soccer and netball there as well. But we're just plugging away.
''We've brought dodge ball in and we've had three players selected for the New Zealand team from our venue.
''We've also just brought in indoor touch. That is just in its infancy at the moment. It is sort of a mixture between touch and netball. The teams we have playing seem to really enjoy it.''
It is not just a business for Dougherty, though.
The venue almost feels like a second home.
He and fellow 30-year veteran Peter van Betuw were there when indoor cricket got its start in Dunedin in November 1983.
They played for a team called Monty's Mob. When that team disbanded after eight years, they formed Imperials - a team they both still play for today.
''We're the originals but we've had hundreds of blokes play for us over the years.
''I really enjoy the game. I think it is just the camaraderie and getting out and having a bit of fun and having a quiet one afterwards and evaluating how well we played or badly we played.''
Dougherty felt indoor cricket peaked about 10 years ago and had declined in popularity since.
''It is just lifestyle. People still like it; it is just life is so busy now.''
